Fabio Capello relishes his role as despot. It brings appreciative reviews from supporters who, after 43-years-and-counting of hurt, are in the mood to see the footballers do some suffering. The manager speaks as if he has never given a thought for the finer feelings of players.

He had barely settled into the post when he explained that Micah Richards had been omitted because he required full-backs who could defend. Capello's restricted English may have made him sound more severe than he intended, but it is also true that he has no hesitation over sidelining footballers.

In the spring Aaron Lennon started consecutive matches, against Slovakia and Ukraine, but has not even made the squad for tomorrow's friendly in Amsterdam. Peter Crouch, the winger's new team-mate at Tottenham, must be more bemused still by his omission. Where could he have gone wrong after starting and scoring in England's last match, the drubbing of Andorra?

Complacency is never going to be a worry while Capello is in charge. The manager, all the same, probably does not feel as if he is master of all he surveys. Candidates surely rise and fall under his regime precisely because he has reservations over many of the players at his disposal.

It has been quite a feat for David James, now 39, to make himself Capello's first-choice goalkeeper. His last start for England had come in the May 2005 friendly with Colombia in New Jersey. A knee problem that keeps James out of the match with the Dutch would ordinarily have been perceived as an opportunity to prepare someone to replace him at the World Cup next summer.

Sunday's Community Shield game wrecked any notion of there being so smooth a transition. Ben Foster has withdrawn from the England party with a minor injury, but if he had been between the posts in Amsterdam it would been a therapeutic measure more than an endorsement. Everything went wrong at Wembley, where the 26-year-old was at fault for both Chelsea goals.

Capello can still pick Robert Green, but the goalkeeping situation reflects a larger truth. The manager's options are restricted. The squad announcement had a despairing note when he judged that he might as well confine himself to one right-back, Glen Johnson. It looks as if James Milner, a winger for Aston Villa, is his understudy. Johnson has made the most of his opportunities and six starts in a row for England will have aided him in getting a move from Portsmouth to Liverpool.

Circumstances did have a bearing on this. Wes Brown, who now has a thigh strain, was not around to vie with Johnson. However, the defender will not only have to recover fitness and maintain it but also, in theory, get himself picked at right-back for Manchester United ahead of, say, John O'Shea. The alternative is that Capello will have to compromise on the criteria he sets for entrance to his squad.

Gary Neville has been an outstanding and enduring figure at United, yet it was somewhat disconcerting to discover that, at 34, he had made the bench for that England game with Andorra in June. Injury and other factors meant that he had been confined to three starts for his club in over four months before that.

England, in principle, can pick a convincing first XI when there is an outbreak of good health. It is also the case, though, that the side's one blistering performance under Capello came with the rout of Croatia in the autumn, long before the Premier League and Champions League took its toll. By and large, the manager muddles through as best he can.

David Beckham has to be retained, even if it is not ideal that he should, in part, be pursuing his career in the MLS. Unyielding as he may look, Capello has to compromise. He is not in need of our sympathy. His acumen is unquestionable and, with a perfect record in World Cup qualifiers, he has excelled.

Circumstances will be less favourable at the finals, when the fixtures have to be faced in quick succession. The side can seem potent when the contributions of Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerrard and John Terry are borne in mind, but it is not obvious how England will cope if they are jaded or carrying knocks next summer. Capello's opportunity to prove that he is really worth his lavish salary will arise when his resources are meagre and the challenge is great.